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Research Ethics Board

Research is defined by the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS2 - 2014) as “an undertaking intended to extend knowledge through a disciplined inquiry or systematic investigation.”

The guidelines of this policy are based on three core ethical principles:

Respect for persons

Concern for welfare

Justice

Research projects may involve surgery or surgical techniques; the administration or testing of drugs, medical devices, medical imaging or other diagnostic techniques; the taking/testing of blood or other specimens; the creation of databases for research purposes; the review of medical records; data collected through the use of questionnaires, interviews, observations, testing, video and audio taping; and/or the collection of information from records in the public domain.

The role of a Research Ethics Board is to protect the rights and well-being of research participants. Research involving human participants conducted on site, or conducted elsewhere by staff and/or students, of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) must first be approved by the Ottawa Health Science Network Research Ethics Board (OHSN-REB) or by the qualified Board of Record assigned by Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO). As a regional ethics board, serving the UOHI and The Ottawa Hospital (TOH), the OHSN-REB is responsible for the review and ethical oversight of all research involving human participants at UOHI and/or TOH. UOHI site meetings are chaired by James Robblee, MD ensuring that specialized expertise is present for a comprehensive review of these cardiovascular disease related submissions. The OHSN-REB is a member of the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards (CAREB). CTO, as a Ministry of Health Initiative, has developed a Streamlined Research Ethics Review System to facilitate a single REB review for multi-centre trials in Ontario.

Please refer to the OHSN-REB website for details regarding the application process, submission requirements, and necessary documentation. The UOHI site meetings of the OHSN-REB are typically held monthly with the exception of the summer months. Please refer to the Schedule for submission deadlines and meeting dates.